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Some of the biggest U.S. weapons programs could be disrupted by a stopgap budget measure that caps federal funding at prior-year levels and prevents the launch of new programs and multiyear deals, as time is running out for lawmakers to reach an agreement on next year’s spending before the current federal budget expires on Sept. 30.
- The U.S. Air Force estimates it stands to lose $13B in additional funding from such a stopgap, affecting ~60 programs including the award of a bomber deal for which a team of Boeing (BA +0.1%) and Lockheed Martin (LMT +0.3%) is vying with Northrop Grumman (NOC +0.1%).
- The Air Force wants to protect the Boeing deal, which leaves the company responsible for any costs exceeding $4.9B; Boeing has taken $1.3B in charges because of problems with the KC-46A refueling tanker, which flew for the first time on Sept. 25, and the Air Force wants to avoid a new deal that could expose it to paying for any further glitches.
- A stopgap also could cap next year’s spending on LMT's F-35, the Pentagon’s largest program, at $8.6B vs. the requested $11B, which would cut 19 jets from next year’s planned order and disrupt efforts to cut the jet’s cost by raising annual production to 120 planes over the next three years; the F-35’s suppliers include United Technologies (UTX +0.7%) Pratt & Whitney unit, which makes the engine.